Committed to Responsibility

DISTILLED SPIRITS COUNCIL PRESIDENT INTERVIEW FEATURED ON BUSINESS WEEK ONLINE

August 6, 2002 08:00 PM

WASHINGTON, August 6, 2002 – Distilled Spirits Council President Peter H. Cressy discussed key issues facing the spirits industry during an online web cast interview with BusinessWeek Associate Editor Gerry Khermouch. The interview can be viewed at www.businessweek.com. Click on “Video Views” on the left hand side and scroll down to Dr. Cressy’s June 20 interview.
During the interview, Cressy commented on key industry issues such as television advertising, commitment to responsibility and responsible spirits consumption as part of a normal, healthy adult lifestyle.
On broadcast advertising, Cressy pointed out that hundreds of television and cable stations across the country have aired spirits ads. “We are getting the message out there…I think it will become very apparent to network executives that they are missing out on a ton of revenue and that revenue is really growing. I think certainly we could be looking at $200 million worth of revenue sometime in the next four or five years.”
Cressy cited “cold feet” when asked about NBC’s decision to suspend airing liquor ads. “There really was very little political pressure,” he said. “I think inevitably the networks will conclude this is a perfectly reasonable commercial thing to do.”
Cressy also talked about the industry’s successful efforts to build on the resurgence of the cocktail by highlighting the industry’s rich cultural heritage while featuring the sophisticated and stylish side of spirits through a national lifestyle public relations effort.
“There’s a lot of romance in the business, a lot of heritage, and we think the American public is going to respond to it very nicely over the next few years,” said Cressy.
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